Preached by D. M. Luther,
begun on the Saturday before Laetare, the 6th day of Martii [1540].
[The first sermon on the fourth chapter of John.]
[Saturday before Lätare, March 6, 1540.]
These are simple words, as they are written by Johanne, and yet not so simple. At the end of the third chapter he said: "The Father loved the Son, and he who believes in the Son has eternal life. Now he goes on and says: "When he heard that he had come before the Pharisees, that he was making more disciples and baptizing, he left the land of Judea and returned to Galilee, fleeing from the land of Judaea. Ei, he should not flee, but stand firm. Now we must understand it rightly and well. For he that knoweth the man aright hath the Holy Ghost, and hath all things to judge and to reprove. But he that knoweth not Christ, though he be learned, yet remaineth ungodly and condemned, as he said in the third chapter, "He that believeth on him hath everlasting life. But here it is said that he fled from the Pharisees. Where is the man now? He wants to be the Lord, and is afraid of the Pharisees here, and flees into the Galilean country.
John has described it with great diligence, so that we might see how he lived differently according to the nature of both natures. For he is life itself, and yet dies; he is everything, and yet nothing; and because he is everything, he is to be worshipped. Therefore this is majestically spoken, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." For if he can give eternal life, it is certain that he is God. For it is not for any creature or angel to give eternal life, but only for the Son of God, who has in his power and hands what the Father himself has.
Therefore, whoever believes in the Son and worships him has eternal life. And yet he is also the Son of Mary, and that is even worse, so he flies here and lets himself be beaten to death. Thus, St. John always puts Christ's eternal omnipotence and inordinate weakness side by side. Faith in Christ, the Son of God, makes one blessed, and yet here the Lord Christ is still alive: this is called Christian faith. He who will believe, let him do so; he who will not, let him not.
Human reason would rather have it differently. But how should our Lord God do it differently? What means do you propose to him? One would say: I want to run away to a monastery; the other would pretend that he wants to go to S. Jacob in a curch. But he says, I give you my ten commandments. I will put it in a way that you had many other ways, and I will tell you what to do: you shall not have other gods, you shall not take the name of God in vain. etc. How did we do that? Aweh, this we cannot hear nor suffer, for an angel spake out of the Majesty. How then? If I do not speak to you, says God, then you will all go, each in his own way. For this reason he has set forth a common way, even a highway, with the ten commandments. For what we choose out of our own wisdom will not stand, just as what God Himself says will not stand with us. Therefore the children of Israel say to Moses, "Speak to God, and we will do what he tells us to do, only that we may hear God speak in vengeance. Then God answered and said, "Because they cannot hear this, I will do another thing to them, and I will no longer send down from heaven thunder and lightning.
But I will take a man from among their brethren, and he shall speak unto them, and by him I will make it sweet and pleasant; saying, Thou hast asked in the mount that I should speak unto thee in another way. Now God has heard you and will give you a prophet into whose mouth he will put his words; whoever will not hear him, God himself will require it of him. These are the two ways in which God has spoken to us. Our own election is no good, we will never be one; therefore these two ways are no good. We cannot suffer God to speak to us in His majesty with many countless thousands of angels. Therefore, the best way is to stop our thoughts and listen to God speaking in His majesty. But we cannot bear this language. But God says: "Now I will conceal my majesty in the deepest way, and I will let my Son become man, born of a virgin, and do good to men and preach forgiveness of sins to them. He shall do it most kindly, only that you remember that this man is the same God who spoke in the wilderness at Mount Sinai with the children of Israel. Therefore believe that you hear him. He has hidden his majesty in mankind, comes here, not with lightning, thunder or angels, but born of a poor virgin, and speaks to them of the forgiveness of sins. At this they become mad and foolish, and crucify him. What shall we do? If God came with His angels, no one could hear Him. Now he speaks: I will come in a simple and humble form, in a human person, therefore believe me nothing. But we want to hear him even more wavily, and despise him; he shall come badly in majesty, and yet we cannot bear him. That we cannot bear, and that we will not bear. So then he comes as the son of a poor virgin, we say: Oh, is this to be the Messiah, and has not so much of his own to lay his head upon? and then is despised in his poverty and humility, and yet it was prophesied and promised beforehand that he would not come in majesty.
but in humility, he would become a poor little child. If the Lord Christ were to come with half an angel's wing, the Pope and the Turk and everyone would fall at his feet. But because he preaches that he is born of a virgin and that he is God and man, do you think that the pope and the Turk should humble themselves against him?
Therefore let the world go into the abyss of hell, and let us remember, because we hear him speak and do wonders in the Gospel, that he is a Lord who has divine majesty; and the Jews, when they hear him speak and see him do wonders, should have fallen down and recognized God in his majesty, as he also spoke to them at Mount Sinai. For even today baptism and the preaching of the divine word is not my baptism or my word, but God's, and when we hear it, we should remember that God Himself spoke to us; and kings, when they hear it and see the sacraments, should lay their crown and scepter at their feet and say, "Here God dwells, speaks and works. But you would say: A poor priest stands there, and hands out the Lord's Supper. Yes, if you look at it that way, you are not a Christian. If I heard you preach badly, I would not give a straw for your sermon. But God speaks there, he baptizes and works, and is himself present there. Therefore, the preacher did not preach for his own person, but God, the Heavenly Father, and you should say: I have seen God himself baptizing and administering the Sacrament of the Altar, and preaching the Word. But when are we going to persuade people to hear God Himself speak? But we believe that God has mercy on us and acts with us through men. What is to prevent Him from speaking to us in majesty, or from revealing Himself to us in glory? Yes, because we could see him in his majesty. It is impossible that we should lift up our eyes to heaven; and therefore baptism seems to be small, for it is administered and administered by a man. How then shall it be done? It is truly said that our
own devotion and election in divine matters. For where this is to have its place, one does not want to suffer God in His majesty, much less in His humility, but to choose and do something of one's own. Then one worshipped the Junonem, the other became a monk. But we Christians should learn and know that God does not speak to us in his majesty; neither does he want our own devotion, but says: Hear me, who have humbled myself and speak to you in my word. For before the Turkish emperor's majesty one is afraid, how much more would one be afraid if God spoke in his majesty and with his angels. For this reason he has decided to make it so sweet and lovely that he could not make it any sweeter. For is this not sweet, that Christ, the Son of God, cometh not in his majesty, for then every man fleeth; but is crucified. I thought that he would be a God who would come crashing down with majesty, so that heaven and earth would tremble before him.
Now learn that Christ does both. When he begins to speak, he sometimes comes forward as God and lets his glory be seen, and this same divinity lets himself be crucified and killed for us, so that I will not be afraid of him. So I go to him and despise him.
But the great Lord (who saves all who believe in him, and so helps them to have eternal life, and the wrath of God cannot be taken away, but by him alone), what does he do? He flees from the Jewish land. Shall I believe in him who flees? Can he not resist the Pharisees? Yes, says the evangelist, this Lord, who is God and has all things in his hands, the one who is shining, stands up straight as if he were afraid of them. Now he is truly God, who gives all things, and after that also a right natural man, who does even as other men do; when they see where the power is too great, they yield and flee. Otherwise he could have said in his majesty: Roll away from Jerusalem and let me be God in the temple. He could have said this just as well as he would have said, "Get thee out of the devil, death, hell, and all the other things.
Sin! There he is in his majesty, if I believe in him, and then the Pharisees, sin, death and devils must be silent, because there is a wonderful power and majesty. But all here is vain humanity, as one could find. He clears the land and flees from the Pharisees, who otherwise tramples hell underfoot, drives out the devil and all violence on earth, all men are water bubbles before him, death and hell must fear before him. So then he is true God, and he proves this by giving life, and that he is not a painted or pretended man, so he presents himself as a true man, takes care, weakness and fear to himself, and presents himself as a true man; as S. Paul tells the Philippians in the other chapter that he took on himself a servant's form and manner, a servant's likeness, was so weak, ate and drank in this way, so that it might be seen that he had become a true, natural man, and did everything for this reason, so that he might draw us to himself, and we might recognize that this same poor, weak, lowly man is the almighty, eternal Godhead. Therefore we must not hear God in his majesty, since he is infallible, but he has lowered himself deeply into flesh and blood, so that he not only takes on our nature, that is, body and soul, but also all the afflictions that attach to body and soul, such as fear, sadness, anger, hatred etc. This means that the divine majesty is deeply shamed, and this is what is preached to us, that he is weak and like another man in body and soul, and has taken on all infirmities as another man, thirsting and hungering, and all that clings to flesh and blood. In this weakness the eternal, true God can be found, and for me he therefore humbles himself to the cross, and is nevertheless true God, who redeems me full of sins and death.
So the evangelist preaches two things about Christ, first that he is glorious and comes to us in splendor and divine majesty; then that he also comes in weakness and supreme humility, so that we may know that he is truly God. For he died, and hath rent hell, and taken away sin, which is vain Godhead and vain divine.
works. After that, he proves that he is a true man, for he flees and does not want to stay in Judea in front of the glorious prelates, the Pharisees, whom he could blow away with one breath.
So also in the Christian church is his word, baptism, the Lord's Supper and absolution, so that we may learn to say: "Weakly see, it is water, wine and bread, and the bad word of a preacher, and everything is a small thing; but learn to believe what great majesty is underneath. There is also great weakness in the Lord Christ, yet he himself is the divine majesty. Thus, among the lowly, contemptible things, God Himself also speaks and acts; and do we, like the Jews, despise the majesty for the sake of humility and weakness, and now say that God gives hellish fire to the priests. But if they thought: The priest does not speak to me, but he speaks through him, who has in his hand thunder, lightning and infernal fire; but because we do not believe it, we take the preachers for fools and children, saying: "One should not scold. Now I do it. If I rebuke, follow me not; neither desire I it; and if I absolve thee, and comfort thee out of the holy scriptures, the devil hath done it. Therefore see not after the person, but hear what is said, not who speaks; see whether God speaks or does it through them. If God is speaking, duck; and if a citizen or farmer hears a preacher, he should say, "I hear and recognize the voice of the priest, but the words he speaks are not his own, his person is too weak for that, but the high majesty of God speaks through him. So when a poor preacher comforts me, I should be so wise as to remember: You are not speaking to me, your voice is, but God speaks through you.
So I could be happy and say: God, who created heaven and earth, who is the divine majesty, has spoken to me. How? Through my confrere. He does it for us, item, for love and friendship. But when one looks at a preacher, one thinks: It is a poor miserable man, and no one considers that the divine majesty lies underneath. An angel shall make the
Heaven is full of fire, and thunder and lightning come, and heaven and earth are blackened, and all things fall down. Why will you not hear God, who presents himself as a weak man, who hides himself and keeps himself like the dear apostles? Therefore it is not the word of a preacher, but the word of God. Because it is the word of God, you should not be dismayed by it, but rejoice. 1) But one does not do it, because one thinks one can do it all well.
So now in Christ there are two parts, first of all, the terrifying and high majesty, which can make blessed, and the weak humanity, so that we can cling to him. It is not learned that Christ is God and man. All the wisdom in heaven and on earth is concluded in this person. But because we think: A poor village priest preaches, we never come to it. But the prophets have thought deeply about this, therefore they can also speak and write about it. But he who does not understand it will not be able to speak of it, nor will he imitate them. Here is the highest omnipotence, and also the greatest omnipotence in the person of Christ. The divine majesty he has retracted and hidden, because we cannot suffer it. Again, we do not want to have his humanity and weakness, but despise it. What do we want to have? Well, the pope and the devil must think up and choose something new: then we burst in and accept it.
The other sermon on the fourth chapter of John.
Preached on the Saturday before 2) Judica, den 13 Martii [1540].
The Lord was weak and fled, returning home to Galilee, but not home. But John shows that the Jews were angry because the Lord had received more disciples, and had baptized many of them, although John shows that the Lord Christ himself did not baptize; and by this John means that he had preached, and that he did not baptize.
1) So put by us instead of, "so you should be terrified of it or become joyful."
grabbed them in the regiment. That was poison. To start such a free being, that makes a great disgust, that they also sent to Johanne and let him ask: Are you the Elias? Do you disparage the people of us, that they depart from the temple and our services, and even make a new one? And it is true that it is not right when a regiment is set up, especially by God, and then people are driven away from the obedience and service of God. It is a rebellion to break up a regiment and not to greet those who are in charge of the regiment, but to secretly attack them and draw the people to themselves. You should not suffer this, whether in the secular or in the ecclesiastical regiment. In the household regiment you shall not suffer another to take your son from you, for it is written that you shall honor your father and mother. A robber who forces people to swear that they will not tell who plundered or captured them is doing something against the authorities and against the order of God. So do the heretics who teach something other than the word of God. But let a heretic be heard before the priest, or let him be told to break up and disrupt the assembly. With this we have so far resisted the rebels. But John, who preaches a sermon, does not ask the Pharisees about it beforehand; he still goes after them and calls them viper-breeds, and interferes with their ministry and tramples it underfoot. So does the Lord Christ. He makes a new church, a new baptism and a new service, and says: "The old service is no longer valid. This is a new regime begun and the old one, which God established, trampled underfoot. Such a thing has no other form, nor can it be regarded as anything but a rebellion. For this reason, they continued in Judaism out of this carnal wisdom, and beheaded John, and killed Christ and the apostles, as they deceived the country and the people.
Did Christ and John do well that they did not first greet the chief priests, Pharisees and others who were in office and ask for advice and permission? Does John therefore raise a new regiment
and after that Christ also. Have they done right, and the people that followed them? Or did Caiaphas do right, who killed them? Here look at the difference. The Jewish kingdom was thus conceived by Moses himself and afterwards by all the prophets, that they were certainly waiting for the Messiah who was promised to them, and of whom God says in the fifth book of Moses, chapter 18, that they should hear him. They had the same text in front of them, and it was being used for a good cause. Therefore they said to John, "Are you Christ, or Elijah, or a prophet? For they knew that Christ should come, and that John should go before him in the power of Elijah the prophet, and preach, and that they should hear the Messiah. Therefore they were not excused for preaching: We sit on the throne of Moses, and the people shall obey us; item: Moses founded our state. This is true, but it is also true that they were waiting for another prophet, who would be above Moses and above all other prophets. Should they not have thought here: How, if it were this one, of whom we read in all the prophets that he would come? The kingdom and government of the world has no prophecy of another doctrine, but they have a promise that they should hope in the true prophet promised by Moses. Therefore, the priests and the Jewish people are not excused, for the least Jew in the land knew it, for God said through Moses [Deut. 18:18]: I will put my words in his mouth. There the person and its office would be called, and if they would have no more worldly kings, he should be there, and in Daniel [Cap. 9, 25.] the weeks are counted of his future. So also in the prophet Micah [Cap. 5, 1.] the place of his birth, as Bethlehem, is reported, in addition the tribe is painted, as Juda, from which he should be born, and the family David etc. But all this is not valid for them, they have said, Here is Caiaphas high priest etc. Wilt thou then make of a temporal regiment, which hath its appointed time, an everlasting? After that if there would be no king, he should be present from the tribe of Judah. Then they should have thought: Caiaphas is sitting there, item,
Herod, the foreign king, is also there. Where does he come from? He is not from the tribe of Judah. Therefore they knew it well, but they did not want to know it. So also for this reason the Lord Christ is not a rebel, because he has the command not only now, but before Moses established his regiment, spiritual and temporal.
At Mount Sinai the children of Israel said to Moses: "Speak to us, and also speak to God on our behalf. Then the Lord answered, They have spoken rightly; I will also raise up a prophet for them from among their brethren etc. Now before the beginning of Moses' ministry, he was promised, and his command was given long before Moses took hold of the people, the royal and priestly people. Therefore Christ is right, and God the Father has opened doors and windows for him, Moses and the prophets; before Moses establishes 1) the government, before he gives them laws and rights, their own books, which they defy, he takes away their government. Then all the prophets prophesied that when the kingdom of Judah would cease, the Messiah would come. Then they should have said: The time is here, we have a foreign king Herodem, and John prepares the way for him, saying: He is all ready there, and does not rumble in with armor, but makes the lepers clean, and shows himself to be a Lord to all creatures, and when the Father at Jordan says of him, "This is my beloved Son, him you shall hear." But the wicked shut their eyes and ears tightly, not wanting to hear all this. John and Christ say: He who does not believe and is baptized is eternally damned. That is, your priesthood and worship shall come to an end; if therefore ye receive not this, and be baptized for the remission of sins, ye are damned.
That means now not rebelliously acted, but with God's command, with preceding prophets into the office stepped. If the Elector of Saxony would give you a letter and seal, and a certain time, or a sign, when the Elbe would run out, and say: Be you mayor of Wittenberg, who could
1) Erlanger: "Pen.
resist it or hinder it? This is how it happened here. Therefore I say, because the Jews thought they had reason to forbid him, since he attacked their regiment. We do not have such a thing. We have no other, but this one: "Go ye into all the world, and teach all nations." This remains until the end of the world, no other sermon we will get, it is not written on any person or place. The pope has assigned it to him alone, that he alone should teach and baptize, and has received this by saying, "Thou art Peter." But we take from the pope his people, and preach against him, and condemn him. Then we are all rebels. 2) Then they cry out: Before all was quiet and peaceful, but now Christianity is divided; and to withdraw from the pope, they say, is to withdraw from the Christian church. Such is an evil dialectic. Where have the Christians gone who lived before the pope, soon after the time of the apostles? Augustine has no better teaching; 3) was he under the pope? If we didn't have Augustine, the others would have made us lay a bare one. 4) He taught and governed us better than the Pope with all his decrees. 5) Augustine leads me to Christ, and not from him. The pope did not have to know a word about it, since he was bishop of Hippon. But the Pope tears the dear people away from the head of Christ and says: "Baptism, absolution, the Lord's Supper and the Gospel do not help you if you do not have it from me. What will S. Augustine say? I and the other bishops have administered the Lord's Supper and preached without the Pope's command and authority. What are you shouting? One tears the Christian people from me, item, one does not want to ask me advice, if one is to act and distribute the sacraments? If this argument were valid, then all the rebels, Ambrose and Augustine, item, the bishops in Greece, and others who preached in the world and never asked the pope for advice, and others who did not have the
2) Erlanger: Turmoil.
3) Perhaps to read: No teacher of the Church has a better teaching than Augustine."
4) "to lay a bare" scoldfully fall.
5) "It set by us instead of "Ehr" in the Erlanger.
They said: Christ baptizes you, Christ also teaches you the gospel, and forgives your sin. So we still preach. Therefore we do not tear the church apart. But if we do not ask for the pope, there is nothing in it. It is called the red whore, the devil's synagogue in Rome torn apart, they may shout as long as they want.
If I do as the holy bishops and martyrs did, I am well satisfied, for they followed the dear apostles. The pope knows well that baptism is not his, for thus the institution of baptism reads, "Go ye into the world, and teach all nations, baptizing them." He does not say, "Go to the pope and have it given to you there. Why do they want to force us to go to Rome? It is true, one should not provoke and entice the people from their proper rule, we do not do it either, but we should resist those who want to do it, as it is said in the twentieth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles [v. 29. f.]: "Heretics will come, who will draw the disciples to themselves", here to the bishops of Rome. Therefore forbid, saith S. Paul. For this reason we owe it to the pope to resist him, and we do not snatch you listeners out of Christ's kingdom, but out of the devil's jaws. Therefore he says, "You are right to grab the pope's wool, and if you tear him apart, it does no harm, for he is the wolf. For he does not ask where baptism and the salvation and happiness of the people are, if he only had money and goods; and the Lord Christ did not shed his blood so that I should be obedient to the pope, but that through him I might receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life; for this reason I am baptized and receive the Lord's Supper. This is what the apostles and Augustine did. Therefore the pope does not have to complain that we tear his regiment. We are here because of this, and we are not rebels, but shepherds who cry out to the wolf and get into his wool. He himself confesses that we preach the truth. But if I teach, and know, and believe in the Saviour, and shall come near, and let the same thing fall, and
I will not worship that shit. If we do as the righteous bishops, Hilarius and others, have done, and as Christ and the Holy Scriptures command, we do right. We know of no other church but that hears the voice of Christ and is baptized. We know nothing about the church that is called putting on caps and going on pilgrimages. But the gospel says that we should believe in him, and after that love one another. That is why he does us an injustice in that we should cut off the people from him. He has snatched the people away from Christ; he is a true bear-wolf and Turk.
But Christ begins to preach and baptize, lifts up the rule, he has the right and power. So we also teach as S. Augustine did, and our church is far better. If all the popes were put to shame, I would not give a penny for it, for S. Augustine should be held a penny heavier 1) and higher; and so S. Augustine taught rightly. Augustine taught rightly, who had such a small parish, and teaches not only his church, but now after his death at eleven hundred years the whole church, our church is also greater, if we live and preach as he did; and at that time the pope at Rome was only a bishop, and as they absolved, administered the sacraments, so we also have the same holy scriptures. But the pope teaches monks and nuns, Hilarius and Ambrose know nothing about it. Therefore we are not rebels, but remain in the footsteps of the holy fathers, and do it against the new wolf, who has drawn us away from Christ. But I will remain with St. Augustine, and especially with the Lord Christ, who has the word of truth.
Follows in the text:
V. 2. Although Jesus himself did not baptize, his disciples did.
Why this? The Jews would almost have let him preach: but to baptize, and to make and to establish a new way, methought it was too much; even as many princes do now, who let preach that
1) Erlanger: schweer.
Both forms of the Lord's Supper are right, but not a hair has been changed, and neither vigils nor masses have been taken away. So the Jews would have let up on the preaching, but to change and do away with what they themselves had done was unpleasant to them. We did not change anything, but only removed what was under the pew. We have cleaned the lamps, so that one can see what baptism, communion and the power of the keys or absolution are. But the pope says: One should not do it differently, one should remain in the cap and keep measuring. So the Pharisees could suffer that Jesus preached; but that he baptizes and draws the disciples to himself, and John the Baptist says: "He must grow", that annoys them.
But why does he say that Jesus himself did not baptize, and that S. Paul did not baptize either? Is baptism so nothing? It is a fine thing, although baptism is a new regiment, but it is shown here that people always look more at the outward appearance than at the doctrine, and thus one has lost the Lord's Supper, baptism and absolution. The world wants one to preach the gospel, which is how the Jews martyred Christ. But Christ instituted [baptism and] the sacrament of the altar, that therein should be administered the water and the word. Otherwise, if the word is left out, baptism is only water, and the Lord's Supper is bread, for the true core of the sacrament is the word. The holiness of S. Peter does not make a sacrament, nor even the materia, but only the word, as: I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and when the word comes to the element, it becomes a sacrament, and baptism is then a bath of rebirth. Otherwise, if the Word is not included, bread remains only bread, and water is then water. But if the word is added, which is said: This bread is my body, and the cup is my blood, item: "This do in remembrance of me," then it is a sacrament. Item, when you confess, do not stand on your confession and contrition, but see that you hear the preacher say, "I proclaim to you forgiveness of your sins in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit. Then you will know that your confession is well founded on such a word of God.
The pope disputes how bread can become flesh, and how the preacher can forgive sin, and sets the word of the Lord's Supper and baptism far aside. But you know that the Word of God is the main part of it. Just as man has two parts, but the most important is the soul, the other part is the body, and without the soul the body is nothing else but a rotten, stinking carrion: so also the Lord's Supper is nothing if the divine word is not present [, likewise baptism], 1) because through the word the water in baptism has this power that it washes away sins.
And S. John wanted to remove from sight the saying of S. Augustine that if one dishonors the reverend Sacrament and the other despises the Word, the first commits a greater sin than the last. He was a new theologian, and thought much of sacraments, and not so much of the word. Therefore John says: "He did not baptize, that is, he ordered baptism and had the disciples administer it. But he did 2) the word personally, and did not baptize. For much depends on the word, which must accustom and teach people to understand what baptism and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper are. 3) He did not baptize personally. Therefore, S. John wants to praise the word and disparage the holy form of external things.
The third sermon on the fourth chapter of John.
[Saturday] the 28th day [1540.]
V. 6. 7. When Jesus was weary from his journey, he sat down on the well, and it was about the sixth hour. There comes a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink.
We have heard so far that the Lord Christ left Judea and went to Galilee, and became tired of the journey,
1) Added by us.
2) Erlanger: drift.
3) Erlanger: learn.
And at noon sat down by the well, and the disciples went into the city to buy food. A young woman from Samaria came to draw water. The Lord had a long talk with her about drinking. And of course he was thirsty, because he was tired from the journey, and hungry and thirsty, but more thirsty, so he entered into a conversation with the woman,] 1) so that he might give her drink of the living water. And it is a strange thing that a man should walk the earth begging a drink of cold water, and not having so much of his own to eat of, or to get a drink of cold water, but having to beg it of the woman. But it is written as a warning to anyone who wants to be warned that when Christ is on earth, he hungers and thirsts, he is miserable and naked, even dying on the cross. Why did he not remain in heaven, since he was a Lord over all, and not allowed to suffer want and hunger? For as soon as he came into the world, and into the devil's kingdom, and to his children, so it was that he had not a drink of cold water; and even on the cross he must die thirsty, and was given vinegar mixed with myrrh to drink.
So now here he says to the woman, "Give me to drink." This woman seems as if she had not been a wicked woman, nor does she resist, and will not give Christ water, saying, "How dost thou ask me to drink, seeing thou art a Jew, and I a Samaritan woman?" But this is that Christ must die of hunger and thirst. It is always so, and Christ Himself prophesied so before, saying [Matt. 10:16], "I send you as sheep into the midst of wolves"; and says further [Matt. 10:41 ff], "He that receiveth a prophet receiveth Me, and he that giveth a drink of cold water to one of the least of Mine, he hath given it Me, and it shall not be unrewarded him." What is the need? Since he is such a great Lord and prophet, what can he do to give a drink of cold water to his own, and that he is so generous, he wants it enough.
1) Added by us, because the relation is incomplete here.
pay him? Didn't I think that all the cellars and boxes should be opened for him and that he should be welcomed with song and joy, as they did on Palm Day?
Now with the Christians they [i.e. Christ and his] find food and drink, and rejoice in it, and would gladly do what they should. With his own there is no need, although they also often suffer hunger and sorrow in the world. But with the unbelievers there is not a drink of cold water for him, yes, they crucify Christ, kill him and chase him out into the world, or are so shamefully stingy that they do not give him a morsel of bread; and if we did not now still have the spiritual goods which our forefathers gave, so that churches, schools and hospitals were provided for, we could not feed one priest, yes, one neighbor now leaves another. In sum, we would all have to die of hunger; there would be no parish priest, preacher or schoolmaster to maintain. The citizens, peasants, nobles and princes do not ask for it now. We still feed on the goods that our forefathers, who have long since been buried, gave to God's glory.
Otherwise it must be, as it is written here, that Christ begs in the world, saying, Give me to drink, or give me a drink of cold water. This is what Christians would do. But avarice and usury have possessed the people, so that now no complaining helps. It is no wonder that a punishment should not come. Our prayers have stopped it so far; God wanted the punishment to remain with the pestilence and expensive time, and only war would not come. It is a great, great plague that people are drowned in avarice. The Christians understand it well, what a plague usury is, but those consider it a pleasure and joy. Again, it is a great grace and a Christian blessing that one can help churches and schools with his money. For reckon you, the miser, who outgrows many people, yes, a city and the whole country, he is so afflicted that they have ten, twenty or thirty thousand guilders. But God does not give them so much honor that they would be worthy to give a drink of cold water to the church.
This is truly a terrible plague in the sight of God, that one is punished by God in such a way that he gathers money and goods in heaps, and does not have so much mercy that he gives one florin a year to poor people. Therefore it will happen that they will have a bag full of money and a floor full of grain, and yet they will not give a bushel 1) of it to poor Christians; and so the usurers are not only misers, but also death-rowers, for they are not worthy to give a bushel for the salvation of a human life; they will not be worthy of honor. Nevertheless they will be able to adorn themselves and burn themselves white, and say: I give the tithe of everything I have; item, I give to my wife, children, servants and day laborers, and say: I would gladly give to the preacher, if he were not a heretic. He does not preach to me that is similar to philosophy. Item, I also wanted to give to the neighbor, but he does not want to do what I want, otherwise I want to put it into his heart and body; and meanwhile they scratch and scrape, and let Christ die with his disciples disciples and thirst. Is this not a devilish plague, that one has ten or twenty thousand florins from God, and yet is not worthy to give the same God another bushel of grain, from which one otherwise has everything? He also leaves poor Lazarum at his door, who begs and demands such a piece of bread from him; nor shall he say: I would gladly give, if I were not angry with him.
This is written as a warning to us, so that we do not fall into usury and avarice. For such shall have the damage against it and the pestilence at their necks, that they give no man a penny; and when thou diest, thou goest to the devil, and sendest out such usury, which knoweth no thanks to thee, and chasest it again through the throat. But they want it that way. That is to be afflicted in body and soul, property and honor, wife and child. Therefore there is not a more cursed man on earth than a miserly rich man, and yet not worthy to serve God and man with his good. The
1) Erlanger: Schopfel.
The poorest beggar and the most miserable man is not so afflicted, nor is he anything compared to the miser who goes about in marten's skirts 2) and yet such a miser does not have the grace to give God a penny. So it will come on the last day, as Christ says in Matthew: "I was hungry, but you did not feed me." Then they think: Who would not feed the hungry? It is truly a great thing that he says, "I have been hungry." Egg, you have fed your wife, children and neighbors. Yes, that is not Christ, but your good friends, and Christ will say, I have had this, that I have had to die [from] thirst and hunger, and that one waits for the dogs better than for the Christians; one does not open the house before Christ. Yes, they say, if you, Lord Christ, would come yourself, truly, they would give you heaps. I did not want to give to the priest and other church servants, who were angry with me and hostile to me. But if you had come yourself, we would have brought wine, grain and all necessities in wagons. So they will apologize on the last day.
People still say the same thing today: What should I give to the villain? I'm grief-stricken for him. I do not see the neighbor or the schoolmaster. Yes, you would not give him a drink of cold water, and God says, "I will not come in my majesty and with the angels, but beg for a piece of bread. Where did you get this? Then will Christ say, I have revealed it unto thee in my word, what manner of things thou shalt give, and to whom thou shalt give it. You do not give it to me in heaven, where I sit at the right hand of my heavenly Father, but I come to you in humility. Flesh and blood I set before him at the door, saying, Give me [to drink]. Thou wilt give me then, and build me a foundation, because I have no need of food up here in heaven, which I give to all men, and to the angels which are in heaven. But he saith, I am of Judea, give me triukeu: and I have preached unto thee throughout all the world, that whatsoever thou shalt do unto one of these men, thou shalt do unto another.
2) Marderschaube -- a delicious oher dress trimmed with marten fur.
3) Erlanger: wollst.
the least of mine, you would have done it to me.
"I have been hungry." Do you want to understand the word "I"? God disguises Himself in the form of a Christian, saying: "My poor apostle and Christian, who has nothing, comes to you. The same apostle or preacher bears the name "I". Will you now give me and court me in heaven? Heaven, dear, do it to me here on earth, I don't need it up there. But do not let your pastor and chaplain suffer need. Help my kingdom to be furthered; look to your neighbor and to your brother who suffers hardship and want, and feed him so that he does not suffer hunger and thirst. Thou hast ten thousand florins, and couldst feed six persons without thy hurt; neither wilt thou suffer them to die of hunger. Then there will be no excuse for you to pretend: I may not give it him. For Christ saith, If I suffer thirst and hunger in my apostle, Christian, yea, in a child that is a Christian, or in a poor man that needeth refreshment, and lieth in want, and thou knowest it in the land, and yet art an infant, and shutteth thine eyes, know thou: I am the one who is hungry and thirsty. If you feed him, you have fed me; if you make him thirst, you have made me thirsty. It is of no avail that thou shouldest say, If Christ himself were come, I would give him the keys, and say, Take it all. But it is a desperate and cursed shame that this is said and preached to us, and we do not heed it. A pagan does not know when he gives something to a poor person that he is giving it to God himself. But how can our Lord God more mildly provoke us to give alms and to help our neighbor, than by saying that it will be given to him? And yet we still have to keep our boxes and cellars closed, since you know that you give to God yourself and not to men. It is hard enough to say, it must be a cursed thing, which Christ calls unjust mammon, which is full of injustice, that one may not give a bushel of grain to his God, but sits and gathers as if he should scrape everything to himself. But the miser asks nothing of it. However, let it be said, and let us accept this teaching with thanksgiving, that we may know.
when we give something to the church, that we give it especially to our Lord God. But that the peasants, burghers and noblemen do not do this, give nothing, but scrape and scrape everything to themselves, they will soon learn. For it is too crude to let Christ die of hunger, that is, to help as much as they can, so that the preaching stand, the parish and the schools are destroyed. So Christ must desire to be given a drink of water.
But the Christians, who truly recognize the grace of the Lord Christ, gladly share their food and drink, as the fine lady. Even though it is hard at first, when he preaches so finely, they are converted and the whole city opens its doors to him, receives him with joy and does him all good; he stays there for two days and would have liked him to stay there longer. This is what Christians do. But the others shall do so, saying, I must have it myself; think, if thou wilt have any; and then say, Let it be taken from the priests, and let the horses be lamed, and let half chaff and wheel be given for rent. But everything will be put into his sack, so that God will have to rain down sulfur and hellish fire, and send for a lansquenet, who will put the spear to your heart and search out the thalers. We should be ashamed of this example of the Samaritans leading Christ into the city. They have a great advantage over us in the Scriptures, who were under the spell, as is reported in the text. But the Lord praises them greatly, and in the Gospel it is not said that he stayed there only one day, but two days.
The Samaritans also worship God, the Creator of heaven and earth. But this was the shortcoming, they did not go to Jerusalem, did not keep anything of the temple and the service there, also sacrificed nothing; but on the mountain Garizim 1) there they built their own church, and helped themselves there with that Jacob's well had been there, where Jacob had lived. This will be the pre
1) Manuscript: Grisim. This form is found in the Bible, e.g. Deut. 11, 29. 27, 12.; Jos. 8, 33.
They were so proud that they said, "To Jerusalem, to Jerusalem, the patriarch Jacob lived here and preached many a beautiful sermon and said many a good prayer, and they came and said, "This is where the church was. But Christ leads this voice, asking for alms, food, drink. Let's leave it at that for now.
The fourth sermon on the fourth chapter of John.
On Saturday after Nativitatis Mariae [September 11, 1540j.
We have recently heard how the Lord Christ came from Judea in Galilee, and had to travel through Samaria, and [came] to the well of Jacob, where about a woman also came and drew water, whom the Lord converted to the Christian faith. Now follows in the text:
V. 9. How do you ask for water from me?
The Jews and the Samaritans disagreed with each other and condemned each other. The Samaritans wanted to be right, and so did the Jerusalemites. But the Lord separates the quarrels here, and says that neither the Samaritans nor the Jerusalemites are right. The Samaritans were not right, for they had for themselves alone the example of the fathers or patriarchs, and not God's commandment. Mount Garizim was appointed, when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, to pronounce a blessing upon the people there, and a curse upon the other mountain. 1) From that time the mountain was honored, that they ran to it (as they did in the papacy, that they ran to the mountains and valleys on pilgrimages), and sacrificed and slaughtered there, and left the temple in Jerusalem standing, and always helped themselves with the example of the fathers and burned white, as with Joshua and others, who worshipped God there and blessed the people. Therefore they thought that the mountain was as holy as Jerusalem itself. This is what the world has done for and for, that the
1) Deut. 11, 29.
The Church and the Fathers, as they still do today, are to keep what the Fathers and the Concordia concluded, and what our forefathers and fathers kept, and thus bind our salvation to place and persons.
But so they should have said: We Samaritans know that our fathers worshipped God here, and those in Jerusalem know it well. But it is not right for me to place my worship where my fathers served and called upon God. For this is to know whether God has commanded you in His word to serve Him in the same place, item, whether you also have God's word in that place. So you must answer to all objections, when the papists praise the fathers and concilia, that you say: I know well that they were holy people; but their holiness does not help me, but I must have God's word, which promises me and tells me in my person what God commands me. I do not ask anything about the fathers and conciliarities; it is my duty to see how I stand with God, and that I can say: God has called me that. For He commanded Abraham and others to be circumcised, but circumcision is none of my business. Therefore I must see how my state and life please God. They only cry out: Fathers, fathers. But we Christians are taught and instructed that our baptism is not bound to Rome, but here I have the church, the preaching ministry, baptism and the Lord's Supper, also my house with my wife and children, item, my neighbors: there I shall find what serves salvation. Against this the pope has even taught the antithesis. Therefore see to it that each one knows what God wants from him, and what God says to you, and always remove Mount Garizim from your sight. For this is what God has written in all the world; he has also told you in your ear and put it in your heart, that whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved. You cannot look for it better in Rome. You will find it in your church, and at home in your books. If thou art troubled, thou hast thy pastor or brother to absolve thee from sins.
viren, and talk to you because of GOd 1). So God is running after you. If you have rulers and authorities, obey them. You must not run anywhere, but God wants you to read, write and wait for your office. A woman should look to her vocation and profession, and raise her children in the fear of God. But the pope has pointed out to us the place and the person, and said: "To wait for the profession and to take care of the household, that belongs to the laity; you must see what the fathers have taught and what the Concilia have decided. But see what God has commanded you, and let the lady go with Mount Garizim. This was the dispute between the Samaritans and the Jerusalemites. For those at Jerusalem had it better, they could have pretended that God had established the church at Jerusalem and had only spoken once on Mount Garizim, but after that he had placed the service at Jerusalem.
This dispute and fight between the right and the wrong church never ends; it has been going on since the beginning of the world. The herds and heretics have always challenged them, just as the young lady says here: "Do you want to drink from me, because you are a Jew and are in the ball, but I am a Samaritan and holy? For the Samaritans stood on it, because they worshipped on Mount Garizim, so they would be blessed. But the woman is not stiff-necked, nor does she have a stubborn head, so that she cannot be set right. So we wish that there were many of them among the priesthood who are so imprisoned by the priest's darkness that they cannot work their way out until Christ comes and converts them; and these belong to this Samaritan woman. Otherwise, the devil will take the spirits of the wicked and deprive them of all five senses. All the prophets have experienced this, and so have we in our time, and a devil is a pure fool. He takes nothing but what he thinks is right in his heart, and what he does with it, just as the wolf does, he always cries, "Lamb down. There goes their punishment with theirs. What was said to the coiner, his mind could not be mistaken; so he was be-
1) Erlanger: Because of.
solid, even full and a drunkard. When they wake up, they see how they are. S. Paul says [2 Tim. 2, 25. f.]: One should ask them if they would sober up again. For they hear nothing while they sleep, only what they like. These are difficult to bring back. So it is with the sacramentaries that they dispute the certain truth. God forbid that we should be of that kind. But this woman, even though she is in error and does not believe correctly, is not yet possessed by the devil, so that she would cling to error and could not be torn away from it. There are still many of them today. They can still be helped, and for their sake one must preach, as the Lord himself does with the woman. Well, she wants to excuse herself that she is holy, and the Lord Christ is not; her conscience is caught by the useless chatterers, and says: I would gladly give you drink, if you were only a Samaritan. But you are a Jew, who have put us under ban and condemned us as heretics. So her conscience is afraid, as if she would sin against the Jews.
But see how gently the Lord treats her! He does not let up, but says: "Dear daughter, that I desire drink from you is true; I am tired as far as my body is concerned. But I am not only concerned about the body, I am looking for something else, I am looking for you Samaritans, so that you may hear me; and he lifts up and preaches a beautiful sermon to her, saying:
V. 10. To whom thou shalt know the gift of God, and who he is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink; thou shalt ask him, and he will give thee living water.
I would rather give thee drink, but I turned back. Therefore I am here now, seeking drink for the need of the body, that I may give thee drink. If thou knewest the gift that is now upon the earth, thou wouldest ask of me, and I would give thee another drink, which should taste better than this drink of water. It is still necessary to recognize the gift and to know who is the one who gives it. But the gift is not recognized, nor is the one who gives it. We also complain about this,
and will be lamented for eternity, that not only do the spirits of the wicked not recognize the gift, even when they are admonished for it, but also the common people despise the precious, unspeakable treasure and do not recognize the person who gives the gift. Yes, we who want to be saints do not think about it and do not recognize what kind of treasure it is that is offered to us through the dear gospel. Dear, how many are there among us who count this as a real treasure and eternal treasure and eternal life? There must be some of them who put life and limb into it, as it is said in Matthew chapter 13 [vv. 44-46] that a man found a pearl in a field [a treasure, and a merchant] 1) and sold everything, and bought the field and the pearl for it. So one finds many of them, who let themselves be tortured over it, they also get the drink. But the rest of the people say, "Why do I ask for this? Where silver is dug out of the earth, there are a hundred thousand men who call it treasure; one man can work day and night to get the perishable treasure.
Would to God that we could once get used to it, and set our hearts on it, that one sees the preacher's word as God's word, and that there is more than a scholar or a king. 2) For there is no angel, nor an hundred thousand angels, but the divine majesty himself, [God,] who preaches, only that I do not hear with my ears, nor see with my eyes. For I hear only the voice of the priest and of my brother or father, and I see a man present. But if I could add to this that the voice and word of the father or pastor were word and doctrine, not his, but our Lord's, then I would be doing right. For I hear not a prince, king, or archangel, but him that saith he can give water of eternal life.
If we could believe that, we would be satisfied. But the lack is in the whole world, and also in us, that we do not recognize this gift, nor the giver; and I myself still lack it,
1) Added by us.
2) So put by us instead of the senseless: "that he is a learned king".
I do not have it as deep and strong as I would like. For flesh and blood prevent it, which only looks at the priest and brother, and hears the voice of the Father, and can not make a man say, That I hear the word, I hear a thunderclap, and see the whole world full of lightning. But we do not, and this is a terrible plague, and the guilt is flesh and blood, which does not consider that the oral word and preaching ministry should be such a treasure, more precious 3) and better than heaven and earth. Otherwise people think: If I could hear God speak in his person, I would run so that my feet would bleed. That is why people used to run to the oak tree, to Nach, and to Grimmthal, so that S. Maria would help the people in the same places. So they did it and ran there. If someone had said at that time: I know a place in the world where God speaks, and when you go there, you hear God himself speaking; and if I had gone there and seen a poor preacher baptizing and preaching, and then it was said: Here is the place where God speaks through the preacher, he leads God's word; then I should probably say: Ho, I have hurt myself, and I only see a priest. We would like God to speak to us in His majesty, but I do not advise you to do that, do not go there. Yes, it was well learned; if he spoke in his majesty, then you would see what kind of running would arise; as also happened at Mount Sinai, where only the angels spoke; the mountain still smoked and trembled. But you now have the word of God in the church, in the books, in your house, and that is certainly God's word, just as if God Himself spoke.
Therefore Christ speaks here: You do not recognize the gift, for we recognize neither the word nor the person of Christ, but are offended by the poor weak humanity of Christ. Now when God wants to speak and act with us, he does not need an angel for that, but parents, the priest, or my neighbor. This then knocks me over the head and blinds me, so that I do not
3) Erlanger: theuer.
recognize God, who speaks to me in the person of the Preacher and Father. Therefore, the Lord Christ says here in the text: "If you knew the gift of God and who he is that says to you, 'Give me to drink,' then I would not have to run after you and ask for drink, but you would run after me and ask me for the living water. But because thou knewest not what the gift was, or who he was that talked with thee, therefore thou despisedst me. And if he did not make it better, it would be a treasure above all treasures; if he alone greeted us, it would be honor and treasure enough; but there is still the treasure behind, that it brings us forgiveness of sins and redemption from death, the devil and hell, and makes us heavenly people, enlightens our hearts. For this reason the treasure cannot be spoken of in this way, and it should be lacking, so that we do not recognize it, nor do we consider it as great as we truly should.
We may well learn that it is also said to us. If we knew this gift, we would receive water in which the Holy Spirit would be given to us. But by God's grace we have begun to know a little what God's gift is and who the Teacher is. If you did not recognize this, I would not be able to teach you, but it would be like in the papacy, where they said: Run to, run from. But we have only the firstfruits and not the tithe. We begin to realize that it is an unspeakable gift that God speaks to us, and that we come to the honors of being God's disciples and discipuli. That is, to know what the gift is and who is the doctor and teacher. We have begun to realize that we and our listeners know that they are not listening to a man, but to God, who speaks such things to us that bring eternal treasure. That is why we keep hearing that we cannot talk enough about it, that we have to act like a stammering child. We do not understand how we have an incomprehensible treasure in the divine word; you do not know who the person is who talks to you, or even how a noble, high person it is who talks to you, of which you should then boast that you are a disciple, not a king nor a prince.
Emperor, but God. The world is proud when one has a gracious lord; item, when one may look upon the prince, that is much; item, he stands by the prince and hears him speak. Now it is true, it is a treasure that one has a gracious prince, or that one is a prince's counsel. But behold the glorious man who can say: I am God's disciple, I hear him speak, not an angel, priest or prince, but God himself, and I am his counsel. For he says, "My preaching is an excellent gift, and the riches and glory of the world are mere garbage compared to it. Dear, let this be a treasure, that God speaks to you in your bodily ear, and lacks only that we do not recognize this gift. For I hear the sermon, but who speaks? The priest? Not so, you do not hear the priest. The voice is his, but the word that he leads or speaks, that speaks my God. Therefore, I should cherish the word of God, so that I may become a good disciple of the word.
Now if we thought so, we would gladly go to church and hear the sermon, and listen to the dear Word alone, and there it would follow that Christ would say, "Give me to drink. But because we do not give honor to the divine word, nor ask for our own glory, therefore we do not hear the word, and no one likes to be heard, unless he has a good, bright voice. When you get there, you have become half Jacob 1) if you look more at the priest than at God, and do not look at the person of God, but only at whether the person is learned and skillful, and has good speech or excuse. For he who speaks evil speaks God's word just as well as he who can speak well. The father speaks the word as well as God, and your neighbor speaks the word of God as well as the angel Gabriel. There is no other word that a disciple speaks and that the angel Gabriel speaks, but one can speak it better than the other. Let the bowls be unequal; some are of silver, others of pewter, or of clay, earthen vessels.
1) "Half Jacob" will probably mean: a person who does not cling to God's word with full, unhealed love.
But the same food is served in silver and pewter, and the venison, if well seasoned and prepared, tastes as good from a wooden basin as from a silver one. So also think of baptism and absolution. Let that be your comfort. But they do not recognize the person of God, but look only at the person of man, as if a weary and hungry man would not eat unless the food were presented to him in a silver basin, as many preachers are now chosen, and many of them fall through the basket, are chased away and driven out.
This is a piece of those who do not recognize this gift and think that a man is talking there, when it is not an angel who is your teacher, but your dear God, who creates your body and soul. Not that one should despise and throw away the gifts that God has distributed according to His measure, to one less and to another more, as the gifts are diverse; however, there is only One God who works through the same gifts. One must not despise the treasure for the sake of the person. This is what our Lord God wants to say not only to the lady, but also to all of us. And Christ wants to say: I do not need you to give me water; 1) He wants to give us living water. But it is a grievous thing that Christ goes begging on earth, even among his own, crying out, Panem propter Deum. He wants to provoke us to give gladly to those who are in the preaching ministry. But although Christ cries out and asks: Panem propter Deum, he is not heard, because it is thought that it is a poor priest. Verily, heaven and earth be-
1) Erlanger: sollts.
He could eat and satisfy his own, but he says, "I beg because I want you to eat and drink. Therefore I also use your help, that ye may feed me and mine, that ye may know him that giveth true, everlasting drink and water, and what his word is. When ye know that I am he, and that the word is mine, then shall ye say, If all things were thine before, we will gladly restore all things unto thee. Dear Lord, give us who are truly hungry the right bread and drink. [Christ says: 3) Therefore I pray, saying, Panem propter Deum, that ye may know 4) Who it is that speaketh to the woman. [If he should ask her, Give me to drink, she would ask again, and he would give her water, which would give her eternal life, that she should never die. 5) Christ will do the same to us, but first we must recognize the gift and the Teacher, and then you would not only give everything, but also say, "Oh, dear Lord, give me also eternal water; otherwise I would have died of hunger in eternal thirst. Therefore I say unto thee, saith Christ, Panem propter Deum, because I will give thee eternal bread.
End of the sermons of D. M. Lutheri on the four chapters of John, and here D. M. Luther has stopped, because Doctor Pomeranus from the
Kingdom of Denmark came home again.
2) Erlanger: "so that you may recognize them".
3) In the following, the rendering of Luther's sermon is extremely deficient, so we have had to interpolate and change to give meaning only.
4) Erlanger: "we recognize."
5) Erlanger: "du ninimermehr stirbest".